Directorik - iOriginally this was a reply to you in one of the threads, but I decided to just create a new one for some deep discussions from everyone.
To the people who know me, I've been a member on these forums for a little over a year. I lurk, I reply, I post, etc. What I am posting in this thread is my opinion.
I think crowd funding is broken up into 3 parts.
1. Promotion
2. A Compelling Pitch
3. Establishing a Relationship
So many times I see posters on this message board toss out a link and vanish. They usually only have 1 or 2 posts pegged to their name. To me, it's obvious that they joined with the intentions of trying to get people to use their service OR fund their film. 9 out of 10 times I don't even bother clicking the link.
Which segues me into my next point. Crowd funding is based on relationships. There are different types of relationships. Personal, Non Personal, etc...
EXAMPLE:
Without having physically talked to you, DirectorRik, if you were to start a campaign, I would 100% back you and donate. Why? Because I've talked to you on this thread multiple times, I watched some of your work and I respect what you have to say. That's gives me enough reason to WANT to back your project.
I'm currently backing 2 projects on kickstarter. Both people are complete strangers to me.
One of the people I am backing is raising money for his comic book project. His name is Daniel Johnston. There's a documentary out there called, "The Devil and Daniel Johnston." Perhaps some of you have seen this? Although this guy is a total stranger, there is still an emotional attachment that gained through that documentary. It was compelling enough to have me care about the character thus I am backing his campaign for his new project.
Point is, establishing a relationship is an important part when presenting a crowd funding campaign. Regardless If I know the person directly or I watched a movie about them... Whatever, there is still a form of a relationship that makes me want to click the DONATE button.
Moving on...
A Compelling Pitch.
Again, how many people come onto these forums and ask for people's donations to fund their project? A few...?
How many people fumble with answers when asked questions about how the money is going to be used? A few....?
A lot of people are unprepared. I mean, come one. If people can barely answer where the money will be used then it's sloppy planning, it's sloppy business and the film will most likely be sloppy.
It takes very little to no money to create a website.
You can sign up with companies that will charge you 29 dollars a year for a domain name and web space. I have about 4 websites. Some are just place holders for films that I plan on doing down the road. Point is, I plan things out in advance. If people plan on asking for someone's hard earned money, they should plan things out in advance as well.
Now, if someone asked for a donation and I found our they had a site already planned out and designed for their film, okay, now we are talking. A few script pages on their site to tease us "possible backers"... Okay, now we're getting warmer. A section of possible actors/actresses, pictures of cool locations that they scouted, etc. BINGO, jackpot.
A crowd funding pitch isn't just throwing up a video asking for money because the person wants to make a film!
A crowd funding pitch is the point where the filmmaker physically cannot go any further because of a lack of resources (money, hired help, etc)...
Promotion
Print out business cards that visually expresses the film you are trying to fund. Go to local filmmaking events. Network yourself... Lord almighty, there are so many interesting and untapped ways to promote a project!!!!! We are creatives.... Let's act like it. Come up with a compelling way to grab someone attention. Do something that will make them scratch their head in curiousity to where they will want to go and check out what you have brewing in the pot.
I'm not going to dive into promotion too much. I have plenty of ideas up my sleeve, but what's the fun in spoiling them all!?!?!
Discuss I guess....
To the people who know me, I've been a member on these forums for a little over a year. I lurk, I reply, I post, etc. What I am posting in this thread is my opinion.
I think crowd funding is broken up into 3 parts.
1. Promotion
2. A Compelling Pitch
3. Establishing a Relationship
So many times I see posters on this message board toss out a link and vanish. They usually only have 1 or 2 posts pegged to their name. To me, it's obvious that they joined with the intentions of trying to get people to use their service OR fund their film. 9 out of 10 times I don't even bother clicking the link.
Which segues me into my next point. Crowd funding is based on relationships. There are different types of relationships. Personal, Non Personal, etc...
EXAMPLE:
Without having physically talked to you, DirectorRik, if you were to start a campaign, I would 100% back you and donate. Why? Because I've talked to you on this thread multiple times, I watched some of your work and I respect what you have to say. That's gives me enough reason to WANT to back your project.
I'm currently backing 2 projects on kickstarter. Both people are complete strangers to me.
One of the people I am backing is raising money for his comic book project. His name is Daniel Johnston. There's a documentary out there called, "The Devil and Daniel Johnston." Perhaps some of you have seen this? Although this guy is a total stranger, there is still an emotional attachment that gained through that documentary. It was compelling enough to have me care about the character thus I am backing his campaign for his new project.
Point is, establishing a relationship is an important part when presenting a crowd funding campaign. Regardless If I know the person directly or I watched a movie about them... Whatever, there is still a form of a relationship that makes me want to click the DONATE button.
Moving on...
A Compelling Pitch.
Again, how many people come onto these forums and ask for people's donations to fund their project? A few...?
How many people fumble with answers when asked questions about how the money is going to be used? A few....?
A lot of people are unprepared. I mean, come one. If people can barely answer where the money will be used then it's sloppy planning, it's sloppy business and the film will most likely be sloppy.
It takes very little to no money to create a website.
You can sign up with companies that will charge you 29 dollars a year for a domain name and web space. I have about 4 websites. Some are just place holders for films that I plan on doing down the road. Point is, I plan things out in advance. If people plan on asking for someone's hard earned money, they should plan things out in advance as well.
Now, if someone asked for a donation and I found our they had a site already planned out and designed for their film, okay, now we are talking. A few script pages on their site to tease us "possible backers"... Okay, now we're getting warmer. A section of possible actors/actresses, pictures of cool locations that they scouted, etc. BINGO, jackpot.
A crowd funding pitch isn't just throwing up a video asking for money because the person wants to make a film!
A crowd funding pitch is the point where the filmmaker physically cannot go any further because of a lack of resources (money, hired help, etc)...
Promotion
Print out business cards that visually expresses the film you are trying to fund. Go to local filmmaking events. Network yourself... Lord almighty, there are so many interesting and untapped ways to promote a project!!!!! We are creatives.... Let's act like it. Come up with a compelling way to grab someone attention. Do something that will make them scratch their head in curiousity to where they will want to go and check out what you have brewing in the pot.
I'm not going to dive into promotion too much. I have plenty of ideas up my sleeve, but what's the fun in spoiling them all!?!?!
Discuss I guess....
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